Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother killed

American Idol 3 finalist and Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were found dead Friday, and her seven-year-old nephew is missing.

She “and her family offered a $100,000 reward Sunday for the safe return of her missing nephew,” Julian King, the AP reports. Jennifer is in Chicago with family, and “the Cook County medical examinerâ€™s office confirmed she had identified the bodies of her mother and brother, Darnell Donerson, 57, Jason Hudson, 29.

Chicago police have “William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudsonâ€™s sister, Julia Hudson, as a suspect in a ‘double homicide investigation,'” who “had been in police custody since Friday”; he “is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle,” according to the AP.

Today, this message was posted on Jennifer’s MySpace blog, attributed to the Hudson Family:“Thank you all for your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely. If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately. Here is a picture of Julian and what he was last seen wearing. Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time.”

about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart is a journalist who has covered reality television for more than 15 years and created reality blurred in 2000. A member of the Television Critics Association, his writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Playboy, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. Andy, 37, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

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